When Sickness Calls
by crazybeautifulRiverSong
Summary: After nearly six months of not seeing the Doctor, River Song succumbs to a sickness that could kill her. When the Doctor finally shows up, will he be too late?
1. Chapter 1

River Song moaned softly, yanking at the covers surrounding her thin form. Where was her husband when she needed him most? It had been six months since she'd seen him last. Well okay, 5 months, 26 days, 15 hours, 57 minutes and 29 seconds. But who's counting? She moaned again, louder than before. Her head was killing her. She may have been a doctor of archaeology, but she had taken the basics of human well-being. And because of that, she knew she was ill. Very, extremely, ill. She lay on her cot trying to cause more warmth by wrapping herself tighter in the thin blanket. River quickly succumbed to the heat of her mind and fainted.

The TARDIS would always and forever be linked to River Song's mental links. A bright red light began to flash. Her child was sick. She quickly changed the Doctor's course to Stormcage and landed. Her thief was confused as to why she had changed courses.

"What is it sexy? You wanted to see River? We just dropped her off a few hours ago." He said as he went over to the scanner to see how many hours it had been. He gasped loudly. This couldn't be right… Nearly six months since he'd seen her last. He took a deep breath before stepping out of the TARDIS, prepared to take the verbal onslaught that would definitely be aimed at him by his ever understanding wife.

"River, I… River?" He noticed his wife under the cover shaking a little. For a moment he thought she was crying. "River, are you crying?" he whispered. He brushed her hair out of her face and his pinky made contact with the skin on her smooth forehead. He shook his hand from the heat. "You're burning, River!" he murmured worriedly. He took his sonic screwdriver out and scanned her. Her heartbeat was low, barely there. Her brain activity was sizzling, in both literal and metaphorical sense. He reached for her hand and realized that it was ice cold. His hearts hardened at the thought of his beautiful River Song having to go through this alone.

He went and got the medicine from his medical wing in the TARDIS. It was a little outdated and might take a while to work, but he had faith that it would bring her round. He poured the little vial of medicine into her small mouth, and climbed into the small cot with her. He gathered her in his arms, and he pressed his face into her limp hair. His normally enigmatic, vivacious wife had been worn down to nothing with her sickness. "Please… be okay. For me, you have to get better." He whispered. He should have been there. Had he been a day earlier, or even an hour earlier, he could have prevented this.

The Doctor didn't need sleep. Time Lords only needed a few hours a week and he had gotten very good sleep after a night with a younger River Song. So he laid there for hours, feeling his wife's body be burned from the inside slowly. Around the 4 hour mark he felt her go limp. He looked down at her and her pale face was void of color, her chest was no longer moving and the cold started to settle into her skin.

He never understood until that moment how much he loved this woman. The woman, who was pale with death, had held his hearts in her small, capable hands since he met her. His anguish took hold of his hearts, his hearts both broke into billions and billions of pieces, and for the first time, he wasn't sure what to do. "Please… don't be dead. Don't be dead, River Song. This is not where you die. I've seen you die once, I refuse to see you die before it's your time." He growled softly. He quickly crouched over her body and began to pump at her heart, blowing air into her lungs. He soniced and shocked her, and with a gasp, the pale face flushed with flowing blood, her lips become the rosebud color he loved and her hair seemed to shimmer again.

He was the Doctor after all. It wasn't just a name he called himself. He was a doctor of many things. At that moment he was the doctor. He was her husband. And worst of all, he was desperate. He would never admit it to her, but he had used a bit of the regeneration energy to wake her up. She opened her green eyes and looked up at him. "Do…ctor?" she rasped out. He shushed her and kissed her warm forehead. "Wa…ter…" she murmured. He lifted a cup of water to her rosebud mouth and tilted it gently. She smiled and closed her eyes, falling to sleep. He scanned her and saw that her temperature was still a bit warmer than he'd like but that it wasn't the kind that would boil her mind. Her heartbeat was stronger than before, pumping almost as quickly as it normally would. He curled his body around her thin one and he watched her sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

At the 8 hour mark she began to get restless. She was having a nightmare. "No… please don't…" she whispered in her sleep. He watched sadly, knowing that he couldn't wake her up. This was the first time that he was the one taking care of her. Their roles finally reversed. He heard her murmur his name. Not Doctor, but his real proper name. He was surprised and although he knew he shouldn't intrude on her dreams, he listened. "Please, you can't leave me… I can't be alone again… It's so dark when you're gone…" she whimpered softly. He felt his hearts break again. His name fell from his lips again and then even softer, "I-I love you…" came out of her lips. He gasped and with eyes swimming he pressed his forehead into her. He opened up her mind to let himself in. He saw what she saw. His retreating form, leaving her crumpled form behind without even a glance back. Her worst nightmare was him leaving her.

With tears streaming down his face he kissed her forehead. He kissed her cheeks. Her nose. Her lips. Over and over again, he kissed her. "I love you. I love you. River Song, Melody Pond, I love you." He murmured while he kissed her. "I love you. Since I first met you, since you first met me. I have loved you." He kissed her over and over again. River's eyes opened and she looked up at him. "Wh-what did you just say?" she whispered. The Doctor held her face in between his strong hands, "I love you, River Song. I love you, Melody Pond. Don't ever, ever think I could feel differently." He murmured quietly. She grinned up at him. That was the first time he had told her that he loved her. "I love you too…" she murmured his name in his ear.

He held her close. In that moment, he felt relief. His River Song was alive. His love, his life. She was living. He sobbed quietly into her hair. "How do I know… how do I know you're not a ghost?" he whispered mostly to himself. Stronger now that she had some regeneration energy in her, she sat up. She held his face in both hands, "Look at me… I'm alive and I'm here. With you. Forever." She said looking up at him. He searched her face a moment and then turned his face and kissed her palm. He turned his head and kissed the other one. He grabbed her hands and kissed them. Memorizing each line on her palm. Each scar on her hands. He kissed his way up both arms, until he reached her neck. He buried his face into her neck and inhaled the sent that was pure River Song. It smelled like light and dark. Like the birth of the universe and the death of a star. Like honeysuckle and fire. She smelt of time. Like him. His equal. His one. His only.

He kissed her pulse point and she shivered. He kissed up her throat and stopped at her mouth. _"Mine."_ He said into their psychic link. She closed her eyes when she heard his voice echo into her mind. _"Yours."_ She agreed silently. He covered her mouth with his, and he kissed her. He could see galaxies being born and dying behind his eyes. He saw the creation of everything and felt the love of billions and billions of people. _"Never forget how much I have loved you. How much I will love you. And how much I do love you."_ He whispered into her mind. She shuddered lightly and she shook her head. _"Always and forever."_ She whispered back.

With that the last Time Lord of Gallifrey curled himself around his Lady. Her body still weak from the sickness that was passing wouldn't allow them more than a few kisses. And so he settled into the cot, with his wife's head on his chest and their hand intertwined. Maybe it wouldn't be forever… Forever was such a short time after all. But he would cherish each and every moment he had with River Song. And that is all either of them could ever ask for.


End file.
